Five fabulous hotels in St Lucia

Famed for its dramatic peaks and volcanic beaches, St Lucia is now - finally - upping its game on the hotel scene with distinctive escapes to get excited about, says Nathan Lump.

LADERA: bright, local, castaway charmer

This hotel is in one of the most incredible locations in the Caribbean, high on a hillside with direct views of the dramatic V formed by the Pitons. Ladera is a collection of architecturally unassuming wooden structures angled to maximise the vista (modestly described as 'views with a room'). It's a quiet place with a fairly formal restaurant-bar, and there are never many people around. But then this hotel is all about romance, and guests tend to hole up in their rooms: big, open-air Swiss Family Robinson-style fantasies with polished teak floors, rope swings, outdoor showers and carved four-posters. There are plenty of eccentric (some might say kitsch) touches such as conch-shell taps, bright mosaics and carved stone fish around the private plunge pools. Ladera is 20 years old this year, and it's starting to show, but the rooms are a lot of fun, provided you're comfortable sharing them with geckos, birds and, at night, insects. The property doesn't have its own beach (there's a shuttle to the ones at the Viceroy and Anse Chastanet), so it's best for those who are happy to savour the view rather than sun on the sand.

ROOM TO BOOK The new hillside suites are the freshest and most private.

The biggest hotel news on St Lucia this year was the long-awaited completion of renovations at the venerable Jalousie Plantation and its rebranding as a Viceroy property. Sugar Beach is set in 100 acres in the Val de Pitons, and was originally developed by the madcap Lord Glenconner of Mustique fame. But don't expect any signs of its past:the new owners have given it a stylish, contemporary gloss, particularly in places like the Palm Court Lounge, with its day beds and smart black-and-white marble floor, and the Cane Bar, where speciality rums are poured ata gleaming, glass-and-resin counter. Rooms are fresh, with white wood-plank walls and slip- covered sofas. This is more of a full-throttle hotel than others on the island, so there's a dive centre, an adorable kids' club, a butler service and a terrific spa by a stream amid the trees (very Ewok Village). There are two brilliant restaurants: the more formal Great Room, which serves zippy dishes including striped bass with bok choy and carrot-cardamom sauce, and Bayside Restaurant on the beach for tuna burgers and grilled flatbread with pancetta. But the real draw is the miraculous setting on a gorgeous stretch of (yes, it's true) sugary sand right between the Pitons.

ROOM TO BOOK For easy access to the water, a Luxury Beachfront Bungalow; for privacy, a hillside villa, particularly one in the 800 series.

St Lucia's newest hotel is on the 18th-century Rabot Estate where the owners run a cocoa-growing project with local farmers. It's essentially a restaurant with rooms showcasing Boucan, a lovely, open-air pavilion where all the recipes (cacao-nib-crusted pork fillet with mint sauce; spicy curried chicken breast in coconut-and-cacao-nib sauce) use cacao or chocolate. It might sound like a gimmick, but Boucan is probably the best, and certainly the most interesting, hotel-restaurant on the island. (It's also one of the few where you can get a well-made cocktail.) The ebony-and-white rooms have vaulted ceilings, draped four-poster beds and really smart bathrooms. Best of all, they have head-on views of Petit Piton. The hotel doesn't have a beach, so there are all sorts of things to keep guests happy, including a lovely spa. With its cool, urban vibe, Hotel Chocolat is designed for younger travellers, the kind who explore by day and stay up late mingling at the bar; it's a refreshing change of pace on the island.

On a headland in the far north of St Lucia,Cap Maison can feel a little remote, unless you're an avid golfer, in which case its proximity to the island's one 18-hole course is the only recommendation you'll need. Designed in a kind of Tuscan-Andalucian style (clay-tile roofs, exposed beams, splashing fountains and plenty of wrought iron), it's a quiet, gated community of privately owned villas with individual apartments rented out to paying guests. The lovingly maintained grounds are redolent with jasmine, frangipani, oleander and hibiscus. Because they were intended for long-term use, the rooms are large and very comfortable (if a bit bland). They also have proper kitchens, separate living and dining areas, and (unusual for St Lucia) TVs. Some rooms have private pools; all have big terraces with lovely sea views. Young couples seem to flock to Cap Maison: there's a gorgeous, two-tier pool and a Champagne zipline that will carry a bottle of bubbly down to a private dining platform on the water. But perhaps the best reason to stay here is the staff, who are among the friendliest and most efficient on the island.

ROOM TO BOOK Ground-floor rooms have pools but are less private; those on the top floors have secluded roof terraces.

'Inventive' is not really a word one associates with Caribbean hotels, but it certainly rings true at Jade Mountain, which is on a hill above its sister property, Anse Chastanet. Designed by architect-owner Nick Troubetzkoy, it's a dramatic, multi- storey city in the sky, a mix of the natural (tropical hardwood and stone, hanging ferns, koi ponds) and the futuristic, with criss-crossing stairs, cantilevered walkways and columns topped with colourful glass-cube and iron sculptures. Jade Mountain is an otherworldly kind of place with an air of hushed tranquillity; even the rooms are called Sanctuaries, and there's a Celestial Terrace for private events. Those Sanctuaries are jaw-dropping, sprawling, open-air spaces with 15ft ceilings, indoor-outdoor infinity pools and spectacular views of the ocean and the Pitons. The scale is such that the four-poster beds and oversized lamps fashioned from tree trunks barely register, but it's all supremely comfortable, and when you return from dinner to find the whole place lit with tiny votive candles, pretty romantic, too. The restaurant produces dependably delicious dishes such as sea bream in a rock- shrimp broth with mussels and linguine. When you're ready to hit the beach, staff will ferry you down to Anse Chastanet, but many guests don't bother to budge.